Screen wire tongs



Dec. 18, 1951 J scHMlDT 2,578,985

SCREEN WIRE TONGS Filed July 9, 1948 9 Philip J. Schmidt A INVENTOR.

9 Fig. 3. BY MWawqfi-M Patented Dec. 18, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE SCREEN WIRE TONGS Philip J. Schmidt, East St. Louis, Ill.Application July 9, 1948, Serial No. 37,917

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved hand tool which may beconveniently and more specifically entitled screen wire tongs, thelatter serving as a highly useful and practical instru mentality forgrasping an edge portion of a piece of screen wire in a manner to pulland stretch same so that it may be held sufliciently taut forsatisfactory tacking to a frame, for instance, the frame of a windowscreen or a screen door.

Needless to say, I am aware that a number of pliers-like screenWirestretching tools are already patented. Therefore, in carrying outthe principles of the present invention, I contemplate the provision ofa more practical and satisfactory structure which, compared to priorpatents, is more aptly suited to attain the desiredends.

Briefly, and in carrying out the principles of the invention, I haveevolved and produced a structurally distinct hand tool characterized bya novel coordination of levers having satisfactory screen wire grippingjaws and a pair of simple opposed handles which, when grasped andbrought together, serve to simultaneously grasp and pull the wire whilethe tool, in turn, is shifted in relation to the frame to obtain thedesired degree of tautness before the wire is fastened.

One phase of the invention has to do with a pair of primary levers, oneshort and one long, the levers being crossed and pivotally connectedtogether and provided at corresponding ends with gripping jaws, the longlever providing one of the handles and the short lever providing asupport for a third or slack takeup lever, the latter including thenecessary second. handle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a handle-equipped, L-shaped lever for slack takeup and fulcruming purposes, the same havinga novel, laterally offset thrust finger to bear against the margin ofthe screen frame and said lever providing the shifting support for theaforementioned long and short primary levers.

Novelty is also predicated upon the L-shaped slack takeup lever as a newarticle of manufacture and upon the pliers-like, screen-gripping tool byitself and in conjunction with said slack takeup lever.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readilyapparent from the following description and the accompanyingillustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing screen wire tongs constructed inaccordance with the final step during which the screen wire isstretched, is made taut and ready for tacking;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the structure seen in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a view at right angles, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3,looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawings, the screen frame, which may be that of a window screenor screen door or the like, is denoted by the reference character A andthe screen wire or other equivalent fabric is denoted at B.

. The tool may be visualized as constituting two tools in one; namely, apliers-like, jaw-equipped two-lever tool for gripping the screen wireand pulling it, and a slack takeup or prying tool for rendering thefirst tool effective and then shifting it bodily to stretch and tautenthe wire.

The first-named tool comprises a short lever unit 6 and a complementallong lever unit 1, these being the aforementioned primary levers. Thelever portion 8 of the unit 6 is relatively short and longitudinallybowed and provided at one end with longitudinally spaced bolt holes 9 toaccommodate an adjustable assembling and pivoting bolt [0. The oppositeend portion of said lever is laterally offset, as at H, and providedwith a suitably shaped jaw [2 to grip one face of the wire. The leverportion 13 of the long lever unit 1 is superimposed upon and crosses thelever B where it is pivotally attached to the latter, as at M. The lefthand end portion of lever l3 i offset, as at l5, and terminates in a jawl6 which is a duplicate of the jaw I2 and is opposed thereto and adaptedto grip the opposite or adjacent face of the wire. The remaining portionof the lever is in the form of an elongated handle ll.

The slack takeup lever means is denoted by the numeral I8 and this is anL-shaped unit and includes an elongated handle portion I9 whichcorresponds to the handle [1. This is the socalled long limb of theL-shaped lever. The short limb 20 is ofiset, as at 2|, to provide afulcruming finger 22 which terminates in a tapered rocker or cam 23. Thelatter is adapted to rest against the marginal outer edge of the screenframe in an obvious manner. The offset fulcruming finger is disposed incrossed relation with the lever l3, and in fact has swingable wipingcontact therewith. The degree of offset is such that the finger 22 liesin the same plane as the lever 8. Thus, the handles 11 and [9 aredirectly one above the other. The angular portion, that is, thejunctural portion between the long and short limbs, is apertured andhingedly mounted on the assembling bolt I0. All of the levers areproportioned and shaped as shown to accomplish the desired ends.

In practice, the screen wire is placed between the jaws I2 and I6 andthe cam terminal or tip 23 of the finger is brought to bear against theedge of theframe A, as shown in Figure 1. Now, by grasping and squeezingthe two handles l9 and I! together, they take the approaching posi-,tions seen in Figure 2 and this closing of the V handles serves to gripthe jaws and also shift the pliers-like toolbodily While the slack.takeup tool or lever I8 is rocked in common c'row' bar fashion.

In view of the foregoing description talgen in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A.moredetailed description is accordingly deemedunnecessary. Y

It is to be understood, however. that even though there is herein shownand described-a preferred embodiment of the invention, thesarne issusceptible' to. certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and within the scope of the appendedclaims. a l w i Having described the invention, what is claimed as newis:

1. Screen wire tongs for single-handed use comprising a relatively lorfglever having a handle at one end and a jaw at its opposed end, arelatively short lever crossing and-pivotally connected intermediate itsends with said' first lever and having a jaw. opposed to said firstnamedjaw, and a third L-shaped lever pivotally and adjustably connected withsaid short lever, having, at one end, a handle opposed to and co r'responding 'with said first mentioned handle,-

and having at its opposite end a, fulcruming' and thrust finger crossingand in wiping contact with said long lever.

2. A hand/tool for grasping, stretching and tautenlng screen'fabric orthe like comprising a short longitudinally curved lever having alaterally ofiset jaw at one end and an adjustably mounted assembling andhinging bolt at its opposite end, a complemental and relatively longerlever having a laterally offset jaw at one end and an elongated handleat its opposite end, a portion of said last-named lever, adjacent tosaid jaw, crossing and being pivotally connected to the jaw end of saidshort lever, and a third lever, the latter being l -shaped and hingedlyconnected, at the juncture of its long and short limbs with said bolt,the long limb defining a, handle opposed to said first handle and theshort limb functioning as a thrust finger.

'3. Screen wire gripping and stretching tongs having. but two handlesfor single-handed operation comprising a pair of crossed pivotallyconnected levers terminating at corresponding ends and to. one side thepivotal connection in opposed wire gripping jaws, and a third leverpivotally connected intermediate its ends to one of said first named"levers, said third lever terminating nection with the latter lever,said latter lever having a handle and said third lever also having acorresponding handle and both handles being in opposed alignment forconvenient use, said fulcr'urning element being laterally offset, inmovable wiping contact with said latter lever and in a plane with saidfirst-named lever.

PHILIP J. SCHMIDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the NumberName Date 179,439 Wilhelm July 4, 18.76 932,650 Totten Aug. 31, 190.9

1,156,597 Hanson Oct. 12, 1915, 1,268,626 Robertson June 4-, 19.181,407,898 Stewart Feb. 28,, 1922, 1,929,600 Milton Oct. 10, 1933,

